Chapter VII: The Last Efforts of Diplomacy (5)

[97] ROY'S _Satire against the Clergy_, written about 1528, is so plain-spoken, and goes so directly to the point of the matter, that it is difficult to find a presentable extract. The following lines on the bishops are among the most moderate in the poem:--

"What are the bishops divines--
Yea, they can best skill of wines
Better than of divinity;
Lawyers are they of experience,
And in cases against conscience
They are parfet by practice.
To forge excommunications,
For tythes and decimations
Is their continual exercise.
As for preaching they take no care,
They would rather see a course at a hare;
Rather than to make a sermon
To follow the chase of wild deer,
Passing the time with jolly cheer.
Among them all is common
To play at the cards and dice;
Some of them are nothing nice
Both at hazard and momchance;
They drink in golden bowls
The blood of poor simple souls
Perishing for lack of sustenance.
Their hungry cures they never teach,
Nor will suffer none other to preach," etc.

[98] LATIMER'S _Sermons_, pp. 70, 71.

[99] A peculiarly hateful form of clerical impost, the priests claiming the last dress worn in life by persons brought to them for burial.

[100] Fitz James to Wolsey, FOXE, vol. iv. p. 196.

[101] _Supplication of the Beggars_; FOXE, vol. iv. p. 661. The glimpses into the condition of the monasteries which had been obtained in the imperfect visitation of Morton, bear out the pamphleteer too completely. See chapter x. of this work, second edition.

[102] FOXE, vol. iv. p. 658.

[103] 13 Ric. II. stat. ii. c. 2; 2 Hen. IV. c. 3; 9 Hen. IV. c. 8. Lingard is mistaken in saying that the Crown had power to dispense with these statutes. A dispensing power was indeed granted by the 12th of the 7th of Ric. II. But by the 2nd of the 13th of the same reign, the king is expressly and by name placed under the same prohibitions as all other persons.

[104] HALL, p. 784.

[105] 25 Hen. VIII. c. 22.

[106] 28 Hen. VIII. c. 24. Speech of Sir Ralph Sadler in parliament, _Sadler Papers_, vol. iii. p. 323.

[107] Nor was the theory distinctly admitted, or the claim of the house of York would have been unquestionable.

[108] 25 Hen. VIII. c. 22, Draft of the Dispensation to be granted to Henry VIII. _Rolls House MS._ It has been asserted by a writer in the _Tablet_ that there is no instance in the whole of English history where the ambiguity of the marriage law led to a dispute of title. This was not the opinion of those who remembered the wars of the fifteenth century. "Recens in quorundam vestrorum animis adhuc est illius cruenti temporis memoria," said Henry VIII. in a speech in council, "quod a Ricardo tertio cum avi nostri materni Edwardi quarti statum in controversiam vocasset ejusque heredes regno atque vita privasset illatum est."-WILKINS'S _Concilia_, vol. iii. p. 714. Richard claimed the crown on the ground that a precontract rendered his brother's marriage invalid, and Henry VII. tacitly allowed the same doubt to continue. The language of the 22nd of the 25th of Hen. VIII. is so clear as to require no additional elucidation; but another distinct evidence of the belief of the time upon the subject is in one of the papers laid before Pope Clement.

"Constat, in ipso regno quam plurima gravissima bella saepe exorta, confingentes ex justis et legitimis nuptiis quorundam Angliae regum procreatos illegitimos fore propter aliquod consangunitatis vel affinitatis confictum impedimentum et propterea inhabiles esse ad regni successionem."--_Rolls House MS._; WILKINS'S _Concilia_, vol. iii. p. 707.

[109] 28 Hen. VIII. c. 24.

[110] _Appendix 2 to the Third Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records_, p. 241.

[111] _Sadler Papers_, vol. iii. p. 323.

[112] 28 Hen. VIII. c. 24.

[113] _Four Years at the Court of Henry the Eighth_, vol. ii. pp. 315-16.

[114] Sir Charles Brandon, created Duke of Suffolk, and married to Mary Tudor, widow of Louis XII.

[115] 28 Hen. VIII. c. 24.

[116] The treaty was in progress from Dec. 24, 1526, to March 2, 1527 [LORD HERBERT, pp. 80, 81], and during this time the difficulty was raised. The earliest intimation which I find of an intended divorce was in June, 1527, at which time Wolsey was privately consulting the bishops.--_State Papers_ vol. i. p. 189.

[117] It was for some time delayed; and the papal agent was instructed to inform Ferdinand that a marriage which was at variance a jure et laudabilibus moribus could not be permitted nisi maturo consilio et necessitatis causa.--Minute of a brief of Julius the Second, dated March 13, 1504, _Rolls House MS_.

[118] LORD HERBERT, p. 114.

[119] LORD HERBERT, p. 117, Kennett's edition. The act itself is printed in BURNET'S _Collectanea_, vol. iv. (Nares' edition) pp. 5, 6. It is dated June 27, 1505. Dr. Lingard endeavours to explain away the renunciation as a form. The language of Moryson, however, leaves no doubt either of its causes or its meaning. "Non multo post sponsalia contrahuntur," he says, "Henrico plus minus tredecim annos jam nato. Sed rerum non recte inceptarum successus infelicior homines non prorsus oscitantes plerumque docet quid recte gestum quid perperam, quid factum superi volunt quid infectum. Nimirum Henricus Septimus nulla aegritudinis prospecta causa repente in deteriorem valetudinem prolapsus est, nec unquam potuit affectum corpus pristinum statum recuperare. Uxor in aliud ex alio malum regina omnium laudatissimia non multo post morbo periit. Quid mirum si Rex tot irati numinis indiciis admonitus coeperit cogitare rem male illis succedere qui vellent hoc nomine cum Dei legibus litem instituere ut diutius cum homine amicitiam gerere possent. Quid deinceps egit? Quid aliud quam quod decuit Christianissimum regem? Filium ad se accersiri jubet, accersitur. Adest, adsunt et multi nobilissimi homines. Rex filium regno natum hortatur ut secum una cum doctissimis ac optimis viris cogitavit nefarium esse putare leges Dei leges Dei non esse cum papa volet. Non ita longa oratione usus filium patri obsequentissimum a sententia nullo negotio abduxit. Sponsalia contracta infirmantur, pontificiaeque auctoritatis beneficio palam renunciatum est. Adest publicus tabellio--fit instrumentum. Rerum gestarum testes rogati sigilla apponunt. Postremo filius patri fidem se illam uxorem nunquam ducturum."--_Apomaxis_ RICARDI MORYSINI. Printed by Berthelet, 1537.

[120] See LINGARD, sixth edition, vol. iv. p. 164.

[121] HALL, p. 507.

[122] He married Catherine, June 3, 1509. Early in the spring of 1510 she miscarried.--_Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII._ vol. i. p. 83.

Jan. 1, 1511. A prince was born, who died Feb. 22.--HALL.

Nov. 1513. Another prince was born, who died immediately.--LINGARD, vol. iv, p. 290.

Dec. 1514. Badoer, the Venetian ambassador, wrote that the queen had been delivered of a still-born male child, to the great grief of the whole nation.

May 3, 1515. The queen was supposed to be pregnant. If the supposition was right, she must have miscarried.--_Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII._ vol. i. p. 81.

Feb. 18, 1516. The Princess Mary was born.

July 3, 1518. "The Queen declared herself quick with child." (Pace to Wolsey: _State Papers_, vol. i. p. 2,) and again miscarried.

These misfortunes we are able to trace accidentally through casual letters, and it is probable that these were not all. Henry's own words upon the subject are very striking:--

"All such issue male as I have received of the queen died incontinent after they were born, so that I doubt the punishment of God in that behalf. Thus being troubled in waves of a scrupulous conscience, and partly in despair of any issue male by her, it drove me at last to consider the estate of this realm, and the danger it stood in for lack of issue male to succeed me in this imperial dignity."--CAVENDISH, p. 220.

[123] "If a man shall take his brother's wife it is an unclean thing. He hath uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless."--_Leviticus_ xx. 21. It ought to be remembered, that if the present law of England be right, the party in favour of the divorce was right.

[124] _Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne_, LEGRAND, vol. iii.

[125] Legates to the Pope, printed in BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 40.

[126] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 117.

[127] _Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne_, LEGRAND, vol. iii.; HALL, 669.

[128] They were shut up in the Castle of St. Angelo.

[129] _State Papers_, vol. vii. pp. 18, 19.

[130] The fullest account of Wolsey's intentions on church reform will be found in a letter addressed to him by Fox, the old blind Bishop of Winchester, in 1528. The letter is printed in STRYPE'S _Memorials Eccles._ vol. i. Appendix 10.

[131] _Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne_, LEGRAND, vol. iii. It is not uncommon to find splendid imaginations of this kind haunting statesmen of the 16th century; and the recapture of Constantinople always formed a feature in the picture. _A Plan for the Reformation of Ireland_, drawn up in 1515, contains the following curious passage: "The prophecy is, that the King of England shall put this land of Ireland into such order that the wars of the land, whereof groweth the vices of the same, shall cease for ever; and after that God shall give such grace and fortune to the same king that he shall with the army of England and of Ireland subdue the realm of France to his obeysance for ever, and shall rescue the Greeks, and recover the great city of Constantinople, and shall vanquish the Turks and win the Holy Cross and the Holy Land, and shall die Emperor of Rome, and eternal blisse shall be his end."--_State Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 30, 31.

[132] Knight to Henry: _State Papers_, vol. vii. pp. 2, 3.

[133] Wolsey to Cassalis: Ibid. p. 26.

[134] The dispensing power of the popes was not formally limited. According to the Roman lawyers, a faculty lay with them of granting extraordinary dispensations in cases where dispensations would not be usually admissible--which faculty was to be used, however, dummodo causa cogat urgentissima ne regnum aliquod funditus pereat; the pope's business being to decide on the question of urgency.--Sir Gregory Cassalis to Henry VIII., Dec. 26, 1532. _Rolls House MS._

[135] Knight and Cassalis to Wolsey: BURNET'S _Collect._ p. 12.

[136] STRYPE'S _Memorials_, vol. i., Appendix p. 66.

[137] Sir F. Bryan and Peter Vannes to Henry; _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 144.

[138] STRYPE'S _Memorials_, Appendix, vol. i. p. 100.

[139] Ibid. Appendix, vol. i. pp. 105-6; BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 13.

[140] Wolsey to the Pope, BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 16: Vereor quod tamen nequeo tacere, ne Regia Majestas, humano divinoque jure quod habet ex omni Christianitate suis his actionibus adjunctum freta, postquam viderit sedis Apostolicae gratiam et Christi in terris Vicarii clementiam desperatam Caesaris intuitu, in cujus manu neutiquam est tam sanctos conatus reprimere, ea tunc moliatur, ea suae causae perquirat remedia, quae non solum huic Regno sed etiam aliis Christianis principibus occasionem subministrarent sedis Apostolicae auctoritatem et jurisdictionem imminuendi et vilipendendi.

[141] BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 20. Wolsey to John Cassalis: "If his Holyness, which God forbid, shall shew himself unwilling to listen to the king's demands, to me assuredly it will be but grief to live longer, for the innumerable evils which I foresee will then follow. One only sure remedy remains to prevent the worst calamities. If that be neglected, there is nothing before us but universal and inevitable ruin."

[142] Gardiner and Fox to Wolsey; STRYPE'S _Memorials_, vol. i. Appendix, p. 92.

[143] His Holiness being yet in captivity, as he esteemed himself to be, so long as the Almayns and Spaniards continue in Italy, he thought if he should grant this commission that he should have the emperour his perpetual enemy without any hope of reconciliation. Notwithstanding he was content rather to put himself in evident ruin, and utter undoing, than the king or your Grace shall suspect any point of ingratitude in him; heartily desiring with sighs and tears that the king and your Grace which have been always fast and good to him, will not now suddenly precipitate him for ever: which should be done if immediately on receiving the commission your Grace should begin process. He intendeth to save all upright thus. If M. de Lautrec would set forwards, which he saith daily that he will do, but yet he doth not, at his coming the Pope's Holiness may have good colour to say, "He was required of the commission by the ambassador of England, and denying the same, he was, eftsoons, required by M. de Lautrec to grant the said commission, inasmuch as it was but a letter of justice." And by this colour he would cover the matter so that it might appear unto the emperour that the pope did it not as he that would gladly do displeasure unto the emperour, but as an indifferent judge, that could not nor might deny justice, specially being required by such personages; and immediately he would despatch a commission bearing date after the time that M. de Lautrec had been with him or was nigh unto him. The pope most instantly beseecheth your Grace to be a mean that the King's Highness may accept this in a good part, and that he will take patience for this little time, which, as it is supposed, will be but short.--Knight to Wolsey and the King, Jan. 1, 1527-8: BURNET _Collections_, 12, 13.

[144] Such at least was the ultimate conclusion of a curious discussion. When the French herald declared war, the English herald accompanied him into the emperor's presence, and when his companion had concluded, followed up his words with an intimation that unless the French demands were complied with, England would unite to enforce them. The Emperor replied to Francis with defiance. To the English herald he expressed a hope that peace on that side would still be maintained. For the moment the two countries were uncertain whether they were at war or not. The Spanish ambassador in London did not know, and the court could not tell him. The English ambassador in Spain did not leave his post, but he was placed under surveillance. An embargo on Spanish and English property was laid respectively in the ports of the two kingdoms; and the merchants and residents were placed under arrest. Alarmed by the outcry in London, the king hastily concluded a truce with the Regent of the Netherlands, the language of which implied a state of war; but when peace was concluded between France and Spain, England appeared only as a contracting party, not as a principal, and in 1542 it was decided that the antecedent treaties between England and the empire continued in force.--See LORD HERBERT; HOLINSHED; _State Papers_, vols. vii. viii. and ix.; with the treaties in RYMER, vol. vi. part 2.

[145] Gardiner to the King: BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 426.

[146] Duke of Suffolk to Henry the Eighth: _State Papers_, vol. vii, p. 183.

[147] Duke of Suffolk to Henry VIII.: _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 183.

[148] HALL, p. 744.

[149] When the clothiers of Essex, Kent, Wiltshire, Suffolk, and other shires which are clothmaking, brought cloths to London to be sold, as they were wont, few merchants or none bought any cloth at all. When the clothiers lacked sale, then they put from them their spinners, carders, tuckers, and such others that lived by clothworking, which caused the people greatly to murmur, and specially in Suffolk, for if the Duke of Norfolk had not wisely appeased them, no doubt but they had fallen to some rioting. When the king's council was advertised of the inconvenience, the cardinal sent for a great number of the merchants of London, and to them said, "Sirs, the king is informed that you use not yourselves like merchants, but like graziers and artificers; for where the clothiers do daily bring cloths to the market for your ease, to their great cost, and then be ready to sell them, you of your wilfulness will not buy them, as you have been accustomed to do. What manner of men be you?" said the cardinal. "I tell you that the king straitly commandeth you to buy their cloths as beforetime you have been accustomed to do, upon pain of his high displeasure."--HALL, p. 746.

[150] LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 157. By manners and customs he was referring clearly to his intended reformation of the church. See the letter of Fox, Bishop of Winchester (STRYPE'S _Memorials_, vol. ii. p. 25), in which Wolsey's intentions are dwelt upon at length.

[151] Ibid. pp. 136, 7.

[152] _State Papers_, vol. vii. pp. 96, 7.

[153] Wolsey to Cassalis: Ibid. p. 100.

[154] State Papers, vol. vii. pp. 106, 7

[155] Ibid. p. 113.

[156] Ibid. vii. p. 113.

[157] Take the veil.

[158] Instruction to the Ambassadours at Rome: _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 136.

[159] _Letters of the Bishop of Bayanne_, LEGRAND, vol. iii.

[160] LEGRAND, vol. iii. 231.

[161] Instrucion para Gonzalo Fernandez que se envoie a Ireland al Conde de Desmond, 1529.--MS. Archives at Brussels.--_The Pilgrim_, note 1, p. 169.

[162] Henrici regis octavi de repudianda domina Catherina oratio Idibus Novembris habita 1528.

Veneranda et chara nobis praesulum procerum atque consiliariorum cohors quos communis reipublicae atque regni nostri administrandi cura conjunxit. Haud vos latet divina nos Providentia viginti jam ferme annis hanc nostram patriam tanta felicitate rexisse ut in illa ab hostilibus incursionibus tuta semper interea fuerit et nos in his bellis quae suscepimus victores semper evasimus; et quanquam in eo gloriari jure possumus majorem tranquillitatem opes et honores prioribus huc usque ductis socculis, nunquam subditis a majoribus parentibusque nostris Anglia regibus quam a nobis provenisse, tamen quando cum hac gloria in mentem una venit ac concurrit mortis cogitatio, veremur ne nobis sine prole legitima decedentibus majorem ex morte nostra patiamini calamitatem quam ex vita fructum ac emolumentum percepistis. Recens enim in quorundam vestrorum animis adhuc est illius cruenti temporis memoria quod a Ricardo tertio cum avi nostri materni Edwardi Quarti statum in controversiam vocasset ejusque heredes regno atque vita privasset illatum est. Tum ex historiis notae sunt illae dirae strages quae a clarissimis Angliae gentibus Eboracensi atque Lancastrensi, dum inter se de regno et imperio multis aevis contenderent, populo evenerunt. Ac illae ex justis nuptiis inter Henricum Septimum et dominam Elizabetham clarissimos nostros parentes contractis in nobis inde legitima nata sobole sopitae tandem desierunt. Si vero quod absit, regalis ex nostris nuptiis stirps quae jure deinceps regnare possit non nascatur, hoc regnum civilibus atque intestinis se versabit tumultibus aut in exterorum dominationem atque potestatem veniet. Nam quanquam forma atque venustate singulari, quae magno nobis solatio fuit filiam Dominam Mariam ex nobilissima foemina Domina Catherina procreavimus, tamen a piis atque eruditis theologis nuper accepimus quia eam quae Arturi fratris nostri conjux ante fuerat uxorem duximus nostras nuptias jure divino esse vetitas, partumque inde editum non posse censeri legitimum. Id quod eo vehementius nos angit et excruciat, quod cum superiori anno legatos ad conciliandas inter Aureliensem ducem et filiam nostram Mariam nuptias ad Franciscum Gallorum regem misissemus a quodam ejus consiliario responsum est, "antequam de hujusmodi nuptiis agatum inquirendum esse prius an Maria fuerit filia nostra legitima; constat enim 'inquit,' quod exdomina Catherina fratris sui vidua cujusmodi nuptiae jure divino interdictae sunt suscepta est." Quae oratio quanto metu ac horrore animum nostrum turbaverit quia res ipsa aeternae tam animi quam corporis salutis periculum in se continet, et quam perplexis cogitationibus conscientiam occupat, vos quibus et capitis aut fortunae ac multo magis animarum jactura immineret, remedium nisi adhibere velitis, ignorare non posse arbitror. Haec una res--quod Deo teste et in Regis oraculo affirmamus--nos impulit ut per legatos doctissimorum per totum orbem Christianum theologorum sententias exquireremus et Romani Pontificis legatum verum atque aequum judicium de tanta causa laturum ut tranquilla deinceps et interga conscientia in conjugio licito vivere possimus accerseremus. In quo si ex sacris litteris hoc quo viginti jam fere annis gavisi sumus matrimonium jure divino permissum esse manifeste liquidoque constabit, non modo ob conscientiae tranquillitatem, verum etiam ob amabiles mores virtutesque quibus regina praedita et ornata est, nihil optatius nihilque jucundius accidere nobis potest. Nam praeterquam quod regali atque nobili genere prognata est, tanta praeterea comitate et obsequio conjugali tum caeteris animi morumque ornamentis quae nobilitatem illustrant omnes foeminas his viginti annis sic mihi anteire visa est ut si a conjugio liber essem ac solutus, si jure divino liceret, hanc solam prae caeteris foeminis stabili mihi jure ac foedere matrimoniali conjungerem. Si vero in hoc judicio matrimonium nostrum jure divino prohibitum, ideoque ab initio nullum irritumque fuisse pronuncietur, infelix hic meus casus multis lacrimis lugendus ac deplorandus erit. Non modo quod a tam illustris et amabilis mulieris consuetudine et consortio divertendum sit, sed multo magis quod specie ad similitudinem veri conjugii decepti in amplexibus plusquam fornicariis tam multos annos trivimus nulla legitima prognata nobis sobole quae nobis mortuis hujus inclyti regni hereditatem capessat.

Hae nostrae curae istaeque solicitudines sunt quae mentem atque conscientiam nostram dies noctesque torquent et excurciant, quibus auferendis et profligandis remedium ex hac legatione et judicio opportunum quaerimus. Ideoque vos quorum virtuti atque fidei multum attribuimus rogamus ut certum atque genuinum nostrum de hac re sensum quem ex nostro sermone percepistis populo declaretis: eumque excitetis ut nobiscum una oraret ut ad conscientiae nostrae pacem atque tranquillitatem in hoc judicio veritas multis jam annis tenebris involuta tandem patefiat. --WILKINS'S _Concilia_, vol. iii. p. 714.

[163] HALL, _Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne_, LEGRAND, vol. iii.

[164] LEGRAND, vol. iii.

[165] Ibid. vol. iii. pp. 232, 3.

[166] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 120; Ibid. p. 186.

[167] BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 41.

[168] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 193.

[169] The Emperor could as little trust Clement as the English, and to the last moment could not tell how he would act.

"Il me semble," wrote Inigo di Mendoza to Charles on the 17th of June, 1529,--"il me semble que Sa Saintete differe autant qu'il peut ce qu' auparavant il avoit promis, et je crains qu'il n'ait ordonne aux legatz ce qui jusques a present avoit reste en suspens qu'ils procedent par la premiere commission. Ce qui faisant votre Majeste peut tenir la Reine autant que condamne."--_MS. Archives at Brussels._

The sort of influence to which the See of Rome was amenable appears in another letter to the Emperor, written from Rome itself on the 4th of October. The Pope and cardinals, it is to be remembered, were claiming to be considered the supreme court of appeal in Christendom.

"Si je ne m'abuse tous ou la pluspart du Saint College sont plus affectionnez a vostre dite Majeste que a autre Prince Chrestien: de vous escrire, Sire, particulierement toutes leurs responses seroit chose trop longue. Tant y a que elles sont telles que votre Majeste a raison doubt grandement se contenter d'icelles.

"... Seulement diray derechief a vostre Majeste, et me souvient l'avoir dict plusieurs fois, qu'il est en vostre Majeste gaigner et entretenir perpetuellement ce college en vostre devotion en distribuant seulement entre les principaulx d'eulx en pensions et benefices la somme de vingt mille ducas, l'ung mille, l'autre deulx ou trois mille. Et est cecy chose, Sire, que plus vous touche que a autre Prince Chrestien pour les affaires que vostre Majeste a journellement a despescher en ceste court."--M. de Praet to Charles V. August 5th, 1529. MS. Ibid.

[170] LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 377.

[171] Ibid. vol. iii. p. 374.

[172] Ibid. vol. iii. p. 355.

[173] Ibid.

[174] Memorandum relating to the Society of Christian Brethren. _Rolls House MS._

[175] DALABER'S _Narrative_, printed in FOXE, vol. iv. Seeley's Ed.

[176] All authorities agree in the early account of Henry, and his letters provide abundant proof that it is not exaggerated. The following description of him in the despatches of the Venetian ambassador shows the effect which he produced on strangers in 1515:--

"Assuredly, most serene prince, from what we have seen of him, and in conformity, moreover, with the report made to us by others, this most serene king is not only very expert in arms and of great valour and most excellent in his personal endowments, but is likewise so gifted and adorned with mental accomplishments of every sort, that we believe him to have few equals in the world. He speaks English, French, Latin, understands Italian well; plays almost on every instrument; sings and composes fairly; is prudent, and sage, and free from every vice."--_Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII._ vol. i. p. 76.

Four years later, the same writer adds,--

"The king speaks good French, Latin, and Spanish; is very religious; hears three masses a day when he hunts, and sometimes five on other days; he hears the office every day in the queen's chamber--that is to say, vespers and complins."--Ibid. vol. ii. p. 312. William Thomas, who must have seen him, says,

"Of personage he was one of the goodliest men that lived in his time; being high of stature, in manner more than a man, and proportionable in all his members unto that height; of countenance he was most amiable; courteous and benign in gesture unto all persons and specially unto strangers; seldom or never offended with anything; and of so constant a nature in himself that I believe few can say that ever he changed his cheer for any novelty how contrary or sudden so ever it were. Prudent he was in council and forecasting; most liberal in rewarding his faithful servants, and even unto his enemies, as it behoveth a prince to be. He was learned in all sciences, and had the gift of many tongues. He was a perfect theologian, a good philosopher, and a strong man at arms, a jeweller, a perfect builder as well of fortresses as of pleasant palaces, and from one to another there was no necessary kind of knowledge, from a king's degree to a carter's, but he had an honest sight in it."--_The Pilgrim_ p. 78.

[177] Exposition of the Commandments, set forth by Royal authority, 1536. This treatise was drawn up by the bishops, and submitted to, and revised by, the king.

[178] SAGUDINO'S _Summary. Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII._ vol. ii. P. 75.

[179] "The truth is, when I married my wife, I had but fifty pounds to live on for me and my wife so long as my father lived, and yet she brought me forth every year a child."--Earl of Wiltshire to Cromwell: ELLIS, third series, vol. iii. pp. 22, 3.

[180] BURNET, vol. i. p. 69.

[181] Thomas Allen to the Earl of Shrewsbury: LODGE'S _Illustrations_, vol. i. p. 20.

[182] Earl of Northumberland to Cromwell: printed by LORD HERBERT and by BURNET.

[183] 28 Hen. VIII. cap. 7.

[184] Since these words were written, I have discovered among the Archives of Simancas what may perhaps be some clue to the mystery, in an epitome of a letter written to Charles V. from London in May, 1536:---

"His Majesty has letters from England of the 11th of May, with certain news that the paramour of the King of England, who called herself queen, has been thrown into the Tower of London for adultery. The partner of her guilt was an organist of the Privy Chamber, who is in the Tower as well. An officer of the King's wardrobe has been arrested also for the same offence with her, and one of her brothers for having been privy to her offences without revealing them. They say, too, that if the adultery had not been discovered, the King was determined to put her away, having been informed by competent witnesses that she was married and had consummated her marriage nine years before, with the Earl of Northumberland."

[185] ELLIS, third series, vol. ii. p. 131.

[186] Wyatt's Memorials, printed in Singer's CAVENDISH, p. 420.

[187] ELLIS, third series, vol. ii. p. 132.

[188] ELLIS, first series, vol. i. p. 135. "My Lord, in my most humblest wise that my poor heart can think, I do thank your Grace for your kind letter, and for your rich and goodly present; the which I shall never be able to deserve without your great help; of the which I have hitherto had so great plenty, that all the days of my life I am most bound of all creatures, next to the King's Grace, to love and serve your Grace. Of the which I beseech you never to doubt that ever I shall vary from this thought as long as any breath is in my body."

[189] CAVENDISH _Life of Wolsey,_ p. 316. Singer's edition.

[190] CAVENDISH, pp. 364, 5.

[191] _Letters of the Bishop of Bayonne_, LEGRAND, vol. iii. pp. 368, 378, etc.

[192] See HALE'S _Criminal Causes from the Records of the Consistory Court of London._

[193] Petition of the Commons, infra, p. 191, etc.

[194] Reply of the Ordinaries to the petition of the Commons, infra, p. 202, etc.

[195] Petition of the Commons. 23 Hen. VIII. c. 9.

[196] HALE'S _Criminal Causes,_ p.4.

[197] An Act that no person committing murder, felony, or treason should be admitted to his clergy under the degree of sub-deacon.

[198] In May, 1528, the evil had become so intolerable, that Wolsey drew the pope's attention to it. Priests, he said, both secular and regular, were in the habit of committing atrocious crimes, for which, if not in orders, they would have been promptly executed; and the laity were scandalised to see such persons not only not degraded, but escaping with complete impunity. Clement something altered the law of degradation in consequence of this representation, but quite inadequately.--RYMER, vol. vi. part 2, p. 96.

[199] Thomas Cowper et ejus uxor Margarita pronubae horribiles, et instigant mulieres ad fornicandum cum quibuscunque laicis, religiosis, fratribus minoribus, et nisi fornicant in domo sua ipsi diffamabunt nisi voluerint dare eis ad voluntatem eorum; et vir est pronuba uxori, et vult relinquere eam apud fratres minores pro peccatis habendis.--HALE, _Criminal Causes,_ p. 9.

Joanna Cutting communis pronuba at praesertim inter presbyteros fratres monachos et canonicos et etiam inter Thomam Peise et quandam Agnetam, etc.--HALE, _Criminal Causes,_ p. 28.

See also Ibid. pp. 15, 22, 23, 39, etc.

In the first instance the parties accused "made their purgation" and were dismissed. The exquisite corruption of the courts, instead of inviting evidence and sifting accusations, allowed accused persons to support their own pleas of not guilty by producing four witnesses, not to disprove the charges, but to swear that they believed the charges untrue. This was called "purgation."

Clergy, it seems, were sometimes allowed to purge themselves simply on their own word.--HALE, p. 22; and see the Preamble of the 1st of the 23rd of Henry VIII.

[200] Complaints of iniquities arising from confession were laid before Parliament as early as 1394.

"Auricularis confessio quae dicitur tam necessaria ad salvationem hominis, cum ficta potestate absolutionis exaltat superbiam sacerdotum, et dat illis opportunitatem secretarum sermocinationum quas nos nolumus dicere, quia domini et dominae attestantur quod pro timore confessorum suorum non audent dicere veritatem; et in tempore confessionis est opportunum tempus procationis id est of wowing et aliarum secretarum conventionum ad peccata mortalia. Ipsi dicunt quod sunt commissarii Dei ad judicandum de omni peccato perdonandum et mundandum quemcunque eis placuerint. Dicunt quod habent claves coeli et inferni et possunt excommunicare et benedicere ligare et solvere in voluntatem eorum; in tantum quod pro bussello vel 12 denariis volunt vendere benedictionem coeli per chartam et clausulam de warrantia sigillita sigillo communi. Ista conclusio sic est in usu quod non eget probatione aliqua."--Extract from a Petition presented to Parliament: WILKINS, vol. iii. p. 221.

This remarkable paper ends with the following lines:--

"Plangunt Anglorum gentes crimen Sodomorum
Paulus fert horum sunt idola causa malorum
Surgunt ingrati Giezitae Simone nati
Nomine praelati hoc defensare parati
Qui reges estis populis quicunque praestis
Qualiter his gestis gladios prohibere potestis."

See also HALE, p. 42, where an abominable instance is mentioned, and a still worse in the _Suppression of the Monasteries,_ pp. 45-50.

[201] HALE, p. 12.

[202] Ibid. pp. 75, 83; _Suppression of the Monasteries,_ p. 47.

[203] Ibid. p. 80.

[204] Ibid. p. 83.

[205] I have been taunted with my inability to produce more evidence. For the present I will mention two additional instances only, and perhaps I shall not be invited to swell the list further.

1. In the State Paper Office is a report to Cromwell by Adam Bekenshaw, one of his diocesan visitors, in which I find this passage:--

"There be knights and divers gentlemen in the diocese of Chester who do keep concubines and do yearly compound with the officials for a small sum without monition to leave their naughty living."

2. In another report I find also the following:--

"The names of such persons as be permitted to live in adultery and fornication for money:--

"The Vicar of Ledbury.
The Vicar of Brasmyll.
The Vicar of Stow.
The Vicar of Cloune.
The Parson of Wentnor.
The Parson of Rusbury.
The Parson of Plowden.
The Dean of Pountsbury.
The Parson of Stratton.
Sir Matthew of Montgomery.
Sir ---- of Lauvange.
Sir John Brayle.
Sir Morris of Clone.
Sir Adam of Clone.
Sir Pierce of Norbury.
Sir Gryffon ap Egmond.
Sir John Orkeley.
Sir John of Mynton.
Sir John Reynolds.
Sir Morris of Knighton, priest.
Hugh Davis.
Cadwallader ap Gern.
Edward ap Meyrick.
With many others of the diocese of Hereford."

The originals of both these documents are in the State Paper Office. There are copies in the Bodleian Library.--_MS. Tanner,_ 105.

[206] Skelton gives us a specimen of the popular criticisms:--

"Thus I, Colin Clout,
As I go about,
And wondering as I walk,
I hear the people talk:
Men say for silver and gold
Mitres are bought and sold:
A straw for Goddys curse,
What are they the worse?

"What care the clergy though Gill sweat,
Or Jack of the Noke?
The poor people they yoke
With sumners and citacions,
And excommunications.
About churches and markets
The bishop on his carpets
At home soft doth sit.
This is a fearful fit,
To hear the people jangle.
How wearily they wrangle!
But Doctor Bullatus

"Parum litteratus,
Dominus Doctoratus
At the broad gate-house.
Doctor Daupatus
And Bachelor Bacheleratus,
Drunken as a mouse
At the ale-house,
Taketh his pillion and his cap
At the good ale-tap,
For lack of good wine.
As wise as Robin Swine,
Under a notary's sign,
Was made a divine;
As wise as Waltham's calf,
Must preach in Goddys half;
In the pulpit solemnly;
More meet in a pillory;
For by St. Hilary
He can nothing smatter
Of logic nor school matter.

"Such temporal war and bate
As now is made of late
Against holy church estate,
Or to mountain good quarrels;
The laymen call them barrels
Full of gluttony and of hypocrisy,
That counterfeits and paints
As they were very saints.

"By sweet St. Marke,
This is a wondrous warke,
That the people talk this.
Somewhat there is amiss.
The devil cannot stop their mouths,
But they will talk of such uncouths
All that ever they ken
Against spiritual men."

I am unable to quote more than a few lines from ROY'S _Satire_. At the close of a long paragraph of details an advocate of the clergy ventures to say that the bad among them are a minority. His friend answers:--

"Make the company great or small,
Among a thousand find thou shall
Scant one chaste of body or mind."

[207] Answer of the Bishops to the Commons' Petition: _Rolls House MS._

[208] Joanna Leman notatur officio quod non venit ad ecclesiam parochialem; et dicit se nolle accipere panem benedictum a manibus rectoris; et vocavit eum "horsyn preste."--HALE, p. 99.

[209] HALE, p. 63.

[210] Ibid. p. 98.

[211] Ibid. p. 38.

[212] Ibid. p. 67.

[213] Ibid. p. 100.

[214] CAVENDISH, _Life of Wolsey_, p. 251.

[215] HALL, p. 764.

[216] Ibid. p. 764.

[217] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 361.

[218] 6 Hen. VIII. cap. 16.

[219] The session lasted six weeks only, and several of the subjects of the petition were disposed of in the course of it, as we shall see.

[220] The MS. from which I have transcribed this copy is itself imperfect, as will be seen in the "reply of the Bishops," which supplies several omitted articles. See p. 137, et seq. It is in the Rolls House.

[221] The penny, as I have shown, equalled, in terms of a poor man's necessities, a shilling. See chap. i.

[222] See instance's in HALE: p, 62, _Omnium Sanctorum in muro_.--M. Gulielmus Edward curatus notatur officio quod recusat ministrare sacramenta ecelesiastica aegrotantibus nisi prius habitis pecuniis pro suo labore: p. 64, _St. Mary Magdalen_.--Curatus notatur officio prbpter quod recusavit solemnizare matrrimonium quousque habet pro hujusmodi solemnizatione, _3s. 8d._; and see pp. 52, 75.

[223] I give many instances of this practice in my sixth chapter. It was a direct breach of the statute of Henry IV., which insists on all examinations for heresy being conducted in open court. "The diocesan and his commissaries," says that act, "shall openly and judicially proceed against persons arrested."--2 Hen. IV. c. 15.

[224] Again breaking the statute of Hen. IV., which limited the period of imprisonment previous to public trial to three months.--2 Hen. IV. c. 15.

[225] To be disposed of at Smithfield. Abjuration was allowed once. For a second offence there was no forgiveness.

[226] Petition of the Commons. _Rolls House MS._

[227] See STRYPE, _Eccles. Memorials_, vol. i. p. 191-2,--who is very eloquent in his outcries upon his subject.

[228] _Answer of the Bishops_, p. 204, etc.

[229] Explanations are not easy; but the following passage may suggest the meaning of the House of Commons:--"The holy Father Prior of Maiden Bradley hath but six children, and but one daughter married yet of the goods of the monastery; trusting shortly to marry the rest."--Dr. Leyton to Cromwell: _Suppression of the Monasteries_, p. 58.

[230] Reply of the Bishops, infra.

[231] CAVENDISH, _Life of Wolsey_, p. 390. MORE'S _Life of More_, p. 109.

[232] Populus diu oblatrans. Fox to Wolsey. STRYPE, _Eccl. Mem._ vol. i. Appendix, p. 27.

[233] RYMER, vol. vi. part 2, p. 119.

[234] The answer of the Ordinaries to the supplication of the worshipful the Commons of the Lower House of Parliament offered to our Sovereign Lord the King's most noble Grace.--_Rolls House MS._

[235] The terms of the several articles of complaint are repeated verbally from the petition. I condense them to spare recapitulation.

[236] 2 Hen. IV. cap. 15; 2 Hen. V. cap. 7.

[237] An Act that no person shall be cited out of the diocese in which he dwells, except in certain cases. It received the Royal assent two years later. See 23 Hen. VIII. cap. 9.

[238] 21 Hen. VIII. cap. 5. An Act concerning fines and sums of money to be taken by the ministers of bishops and other ordinaries of holy church for the probate of testaments.

[239] HALE, _Precedents_, p. 86.

[240] Ibid.

[241] 21 Hen. VIII. cap. 6. An Act concerning the taking of mortuaries, or demanding, receiving, or claiming the same.

In Scotland the usual mortuary was, a cow and the uppermost cloth or counterpane on the bed in which the death took place. A bishop reprimanding a suspected clergyman for his leaning toward the Reformation, said to him:--

"My joy, Dean Thomas, I am informed that ye preach the epistle and gospel every Sunday to your parishioners, and that ye take not the cow nor the upmost cloth from your parishioners; which thing is very prejudicial to the churchmen. And therefore, Dean Thomas, I would ye took your cow and upmost cloth, or else it is too much to preach every Sunday, for in so doing ye may make the people think we should preach likewise."--CALDERWOOD, vol. i. p. 126.

The bishop had to burn Dean Thomas at last, being unable to work conviction into him in these matters.

[242] 21 Hen. VIII. cap. 13. An Act that no spiritual person shall take farms; or buy and sell for lucre and profit; or keep tan-houses or breweries. And for pluralities of benefices and for residence.

[243] HALL, p. 767.

[244] Ibid. 766

[245] Ibid. 767.

[246] Ibid. 766.

[247] Ibid. 768.

[248] So reluctant was he, that at one time he had resolved, rather than compromise the unity of Christendom, to give way. When the disposition of the court of Rome was no longer doubtful, "his difficultatibus permotus, cum in hoc statu res essent, dixerunt qui ejus verba exceperunt, post profundam secum de universo negotio deliberationem et mentis agitationem, tandem in haec verba prorupisse, se primum tentasse illud divortium persuasum ecclesiam Romanam hoc idem probaturum--quod si ita ilia abhorreret ab illa sententia ut nullo modo permittendum censeret se nolle cum ea contendere neque amplius in illo negotio progredi."

Pole, on whose authority we receive these words, says that they were heard with almost unanimous satisfaction at the council board. The moment of hesitation was, it is almost certain, at the crisis which preceded or attended Wolsey's fall. It endured but for three days, and was dispelled by the influence of Cromwell, who tempted both the king and parliament into their fatal revolt.--POLI _Apologia ad Carolum Quintum_.

[249] LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 446. The censures were threatened in the first brief, but the menace was withdrawn under the impression that it was not needed.

[250] Ibid. The second brief is dated March 7, and declares that the king, if he proceeds, shall incur ipso facto the greater excommunication; that the kingdom will fall under an interdict.

[251] Cranmer was born in 1489, and was thus forty years old when he first emerged into eminence.

[252] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 226.

[253] Je croy qu'il ne feist en sa vie ceremonie qui luy touchast si pres du coeur, ne dont je pense qu'il luy doive advenir moins du bien. Car aucunes fois qu'il pensoit qu'on ne le regardast, il faisoit de si grands soupirs que pour pesante que fust sa chappe, il la faisoit bransler a bon escient.--_Lettre de M. de Gramont, Eveque de Tarbes._ LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 386.

[254] ELLIS, _Third Series_, vol. ii. p. 98. "In the letters showed us by M. de Buclans from the emperor, of the which mention was made in ciphers, it was written in terms that the French king would offer unto your Grace the papalite of France vel Patriarchate, for the French men would no more obey the Church of Rome."--Lee to Wolsey.

[255] A ce qu'il m'en a declare des fois plus de trois en secret, il seroit content que le dit mariage fust ja faict, ou par dispense du Legat d'Angleterre ou autrement; mais que ce ne fust par son autorite, in aussi diminuant sa puissance, quant aux dispenses, et limitation de droict divin.--_Dechiffrement de Lettres de M. de Tarbes._--LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 408.

[256] LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 408.

[257] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 230.

[258] The Bishop of Tarbes to the King of France. LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 401.

[259] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 234.

[260] Ibid. p. 235.

[261] We demand a service of you which it is your duty to concede; and your first thought is lest you should offend the emperor. We do not blame _him_. That in such a matter he should be influenced by natural affection is intelligible and laudable. But for that very reason we decline to submit to so partial a judgment.--Henry VIII. to the Pope: BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 431.

[262] LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 394.

[263] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 317.

[264] For Croke's Mission, see BURNET, vol. i. p. 144 e.

[265] _State Papers_, vol. vii. p. 241.

[266] Friar Pallavicino to the Bishop of Bath. _Rolls House MS._

[267] Croke and Omnibow to the King. _Rolls House MS._

[268] Generalis magister nostri ordinis mandavit omnibus suae religionis professoribus, ut nullus audeat de auctoritate Pontificis quicquam loqui. Denique Orator Caesareus in talia verba prorupit, quibus facile cognovi ut me a Pontifice vocari studeat et tunc timendum esset saluti meae. Father Omnibow to Henry VIII. _Rolls House MS._

[269] BURNET'S _Collect._ p. 50. Burnet labours to prove that on Henry's side there was no bribery, and that the emperor was the only offender; an examination of many MS. letters from Croke and other agents in Italy leads me to believe that, although the emperor only had recourse to intimidation, because he alone was able to practise it, the bribery was equally shared between both parties.

[270] LEGRAND, vol. iii. p. 458. The Grand Master to the King of France:--De l'autre part, adventure il n'est moins a craindre, que le Roy d'Angleterre, irrite de trop longues dissimulations, trouvast moyen de parvenir a ses intentions du consentement de l'Empereur, et que par l'advenement d'un tiers _se fissent ami, Herode et Pilate_.

[271] Ibid. vol. iii. p. 467, etc.

[272] Letter from the King of France to the President of the Parliament of Paris. _Rolls House MS._

[273] Letter from Reginald Pole to Henry VIII. _Rolls House MS._

[274] Pole to Henry VIII. _Rolls House MS._

[275] BURNET, _Collectanea_, p. 429.

[276] _State Papers_, vol. i. p. 377.

[277] BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 436; _State Papers_, vol. i. p. 378.

[278] It is not good to stir a hornet's nest.

[279] BURNET'S _Collectanea_, p. 431.

[280] Ibid. p. 48.

[281] Preface to LATIMER'S _Sermons_. Parker Society's edition, p. 3.

[282] "King Harry loved a man," was an English proverb to the close of the century. See SIR ROBERT NAUNTON'S _Fragmenta Regalia_, London, 1641, p. 14.

[283] Sir George Throgmorton, who distinguished himself by his opposition to the Reformation in the House of Commons.

[284] BURNET'S _Collect_, p. 429.

[285] _A Glasse of Truth._

[286] Ibid. p. 144.

[287] 35 Ed. I.; 25 Ed. III. stat. 4; stat. 5, cap. 22; 27 Ed. III. stat. 1; 13 Ric. II. stat. 2, cap. 2; 16 Ric. II. cap. 5; 9 Hen. IV. cap. 8.

[288] CAVENDISH, p. 276.

Gardiner has left some noticeable remarks on this subject.

"Whether," he says, "a king may command against a common law or an act of parliament, there is never a judge or other man in the realm ought to know more by experience of that the laws have said than I.

"First, my Lord Cardinal, that obtained his legacy by our late Sovereign Lord's requirements at Rome, yet, because it was against the laws of the realm, the judges concluded the offence of Premunire, which matter I bare away, and took it for a law of the realm, because the lawyers said so, but my reason digested it not. The lawyers, for confirmation of their doings, brought in the case of Lord Tiptoft. An earl he was, and learned in the civil laws, who being chancellor, because in execution of the king's commandment he offended the laws of the realm, suffered on Tower Hill. They brought in examples of many judges that had fines set on their heads in like cases for transgression of laws by the king's commandment, and this I learned in that case.

"Since that time being of the council, when many proclamations were devised against the carriers out of corn, when it came to punish the offender, the judges would answer it might not be by the law, because the Act of Parliament gave liberty, wheat being under a price. Whereupon at last followed the Act of Proclamations, in the passing whereof were many large words spoken."

After mentioning other cases, he goes on:--

"I reasoned once in the parliament house, where there was free speech without danger, and the Lord Audely, to satisfy me, because I was in some secret estimation, as he knew, 'Thou art a good fellow, Bishop,' quoth he; 'look at the Act of Supremacy, and there the king's doings be restrained to spiritual jurisdiction; and in another act no spiritual law shall have place contrary to a common law, or an act of parliament. And this were not,' quoth he, 'you bishops would enter in with the king, and by means of his supremacy order the laws as ye listed. But we will provide,' quoth he, 'that the premunire shall never go off your heads.' This I bare away then, and held my peace."--Gardiner to the Protector Somerset: _MS. Harleian_, 417.

[289] 13 Ric. II. stat. 2, cap. 2. Et si le Roi envoie par lettre on en autre maniere a la Courte du Rome al excitacion dascune person, parount que la contrarie de cest estatut soit fait touchant ascune dignite de Sainte Eglise, si celuy qui fait tiel excitacion soit Prelate de Sainte Eglise, paie au Roy le value de ses temporalitees dun an. The petition of parliament which occasioned the statute is even more emphatic: Perveuz tout foitz que par nulle traite ou composition a faire entre le Seint Pere le Pape et notre Seigneur le Roy que riens soit fait a contraire en prejudice de cest Estatute a faire. Et si ascune Seigneur Espirituel ou Temporel ou ascune persone quiconque de qu'elle condition q'il soit, enforme, ensence ou excite le Roi ou ses heirs, l'anientiser, adnuller ou repeller cest Estatut a faire, et de ceo soit atteint par due proces du loy que le Seigneur Espirituel eit la peyne sus dite, etc.--_Rolls of Parliament_, Ric. II. 13.

[290] Even further, as chancellor the particular duty had been assigned to him of watching over the observance of the act.

Et le chancellor que pur le temps serra a quelle heure que pleint a luy ou a conseill le Roy soit fait d'ascunes des articles sus ditz par ascune persone que pleindre soy voudra granta briefs sur le cas ou commissions a faire au covenables persones, d'oier et terminer les ditz articles sur peyne de perdre son office et jamais estre mys en office le Roy et perdre mille livres a lever a l'oeps le Roy si de ce soit atteint par du proces.--_Rolls of Parliament_, Ric. II. 13.

[291] BURNET, vol. iii. p. 77. See a summary of the acts of this Convocation in a sermon of Latimer's preached before the two Houses in 1536. LATIMER'S _Sermons_, p. 45.

[292] The king, considering what good might come of reading of the New Testament and following the same; and what evil might come of the reading of the same if it were evil translated, and not followed; came into the Star Chamber the five-and-twentieth day of May; and then communed with his council and the prelates concerning the cause. And after long debating, it was alleged that the translations of Tyndal and Joy were not truly translated, and also that in them were prologues and prefaces that sounded unto heresy, and railed against the bishops uncharitably. Wherefore all such books were prohibited, and commandment given by the king to the bishops, that they, calling to them the best learned men of the universities, should cause a new translation to be made, so that the people should not be ignorant of the law of God.--HALL, p. 771. And see WARHAM'S _Register_ for the years 1529-1531. MS. Lambeth.

[293] 22 Hen. VIII. cap. 15.

[294] BURNET, vol. iii. p. 78.

[295] _State Papers_, vol. vii. 457.

[296] Memoranda relating to the Clergy: _Rolls House MS._

[297] BURNET, vol. iii. p. 80.

[298] The King's Highness, having always tender eyes with mercy and pity and compassion towards his spiritual subjects, minding of his high goodness and great benignity so always to impart the same unto them, as justice being duly administered, all rigour be excluded; and the great benevolent minds of his said subjects [having been] largely and many times approved towards his Highness, and specially in their Convocation and Synod now presently being in the Chapter House of Westminster, his Highness, of his said benignity and high liberality, in consideration that the said Convocation has given and granted unto him a subsidy of one hundred thousand pounds, is content to grant his general pardon to the clergy and the province of Canterbury, for all offences against the statute and premunire.--22 Hen. VIII. cap. 15.

[299] BURNET, vol. 1. p. 185.

[300] An instance is reported in the Chronicle of the Grey Friars ten years previously. The punishment was the same as that which was statutably enacted in the case of Rouse.

[301] HALL, p. 781.

[302] Most shocking when the _wrong persons_ were made the victims; and because clerical officials were altogether incapable of detecting the _right persons_, the memory of the practice has become abhorrent to all just men. I suppose, however, that, if the _right persons_ could have been detected, even the stake itself would not have been too tremendous a penalty for the destroying of human souls.

[303] 22 Hen. VIII. cap. 10.

[304] See a very curious pamphlet on this subject, by SIR FRANCIS PALGRAVE. It is called _The Confessions of Richard Bishop, Robert Seymour, and Sir Edward Neville, before the Privy Council, touching Prophecie, Necromancy, and Treasure-trove_.

[305] Miscellaneous Depositions on the State Of the Country: _Rolls House MS._

[306] See the Preamble of the Bill against conjurations, witchcraft, sorceries, and enchantments.--33 Hen. VIII. cap. 8.

Also "the Bill touching Prophecies upon Arms and Badges."--33 Hen. VIII. cap. 14.

A similar edict expelled the gipsies from Germany. At the Diet of Spires, June 10, 1544.

Statutum est ne vagabundum hominum genus quos vulgo Saracenos vocant per Germaniam oberrare sinatur _usu enim compertum est eos exploratores et proditores esse.--State Papers_, vol. ix. p. 705.

[307] ELLIS, first series, vol. ii. p. 101.

[308] Bulla pro Johanne Scot, qui sine cibo et potu per centum et sex dies vixerat.--RYMER, vol. vi. part 2, p. 176.

[309] BUCHANAN, _History of Scotland_, vol. ii. p. 156.